To add Slackware to the list: nvi 1 (1.81.6) was added to -current on Mon Jan 13 00:11:55 UTC 2020, replacing Elvis as the default /usr/bin/vi provider. It shipped in stable with Slackware 15.0 (Feb 2022). It recently merged the Debian patchset, so Slackware and Debian now share most of the nvi 1 fixes.
One nice detail: when nvi was introduced, Elvis was rebuilt to drop its /usr/bin/vi and /usr/bin/ex symlinks, and nvi only provides those symlinks if no other editor already does.
I just added an "NVI ACROSS UNIX SYSTEMS" section to some notes I keep, if anyone's curious:
https://repo.or.cz/code-notes.git/blob_plain/HEAD:/notes/NVI_Editor_Guide.txt
#nvi #vi #slackware
npub1h4…zd0n9
2026-05-27 20:11:20 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…qwd6
Author Public Key
npub1h4xcdfyq02gr0zs058eqya09t88vyz3yqqdt8vwf0vsz2ur244zs3zd0n9Seen on
wss://relay.mostr.pubPublished at
2026-05-27 20:11:20 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "e3e64eac142cc27fe0f3561f03d1fc520598d8f5a95985f48054d8bf9004d030",
"pubkey": "bd4d86a4807a90378a0fa1f20275e559cec20a24001ab3b1c97b2025706aad45",
"created_at": 1779912680,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"p",
"3d393b82c3042be8ead657b609d054c8d934be0e269bf74c56f72f63ea48d0df",
"wss://relay.ditto.pub"
],
[
"e",
"3724ad721419dd4f53e8080b8eeb154c7ad94fd4e15ee2c9548d38c2a67d981a",
"wss://relay.ditto.pub",
"reply"
],
[
"t",
"nvi"
],
[
"t",
"vi"
],
[
"t",
"slackware"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://snac.bsd.cafe/r1w1s1/p/1779912680.010269",
"activitypub"
],
[
"client",
"Mostr",
"31990:6be38f8c63df7dbf84db7ec4a6e6fbbd8d19dca3b980efad18585c46f04b26f9:mostr",
"wss://relay.ditto.pub"
]
],
"content": "To add Slackware to the list: nvi 1 (1.81.6) was added to -current on Mon Jan 13 00:11:55 UTC 2020, replacing Elvis as the default /usr/bin/vi provider. It shipped in stable with Slackware 15.0 (Feb 2022). It recently merged the Debian patchset, so Slackware and Debian now share most of the nvi 1 fixes.\n\nOne nice detail: when nvi was introduced, Elvis was rebuilt to drop its /usr/bin/vi and /usr/bin/ex symlinks, and nvi only provides those symlinks if no other editor already does.\n\nI just added an \"NVI ACROSS UNIX SYSTEMS\" section to some notes I keep, if anyone's curious:\nhttps://repo.or.cz/code-notes.git/blob_plain/HEAD:/notes/NVI_Editor_Guide.txt\n\n#nvi #vi #slackware\n",
"sig": "69313417427b9bda0df8c9ca1e488a4dc8a65e590b657174da218909e8d1db6363ef5fa0770551a5894bd1ded498482576ed94a5246df97fedebd61024084cac"
}